Cool pictures. My friend is in Mosul right now, he has been there for about a month now. I was able to talk to him the other day for the first time in a while now. Keep up with taking the pictures, they will definantly be something you'll like down the road I'm sure.

Wow...great pics. It's nice to see some reporting outside of the slanted media.

All we get to see here is the dead people and car bombs. The school children bring it all into perspective. One of my co-workers is over there now since he was a National Guard reservist. He got called up and went last may. I want to say he is in the 42nd brigade but I am not 100% sure. I do know he is on one of the med teams. Last I heard he was stationed in Baghdad.

Stay safe man and share whatever pictures and stories that are allowed. It is very interesting stuff and also lets us know you are still ok!

Cheers!

Foo

__________________
"To Alcohol! The cause of--and solution to--all life's problems." -- Homer J. Simpson
"I didn't get to where I am today worrying about how I am going to feel in the morning." -- Ron White (Blue Collar Comedy Tour)
"I was born to lose and destined to fail." -- Mike Ness, Social Distortion
"Eat healthy, exercise daily, die anyway" -- My motto
"Everyone I know, goes away, in the end...I will let you down, I will make you hurt..." -- Johnny Cash (NIN Cover of "Hurt")

I am traveling around the world until I find something that makes me want to stop. I am an aspiring photographer and hope to find whatever it is I am looking for...

"Steve is the prototypical cool American male. Y'know, I'm talking about Steve McGarrett, alright? Steve Austin, Steve McQueen. Y'know, he's the guy on his horse, the guy alone. He has his own code of honor, his own code of ethics, his own rules of living, man. He never, ever tries to impress the women but he always gets the girl."

while some of us may not agree with the purpose of the war lets try not to forget that people like The Monsignor are out there trying to build a better life for the Iraqi people as well as protect their own lives from the insurgents. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures the pictures of the kids were great!

Stay safe

__________________I have two skins, one to lie on and one to cover myself with; the earth and the sky. (Masai proverb)

In the last photo, is that the grenade launcher thingy that attaches to an M16? When I was in, I think it was an M203 or something like that -- wasn't sure if the Army still used them. That M16 looks awful short in the barrel department, is that a special issue carbine?

Just curious...the military guy in me coming out.

worldwidemike

__________________
Check out my travel web page at:Worldwidemike.com"Life is not measured in the number of breaths we take, but by the places that take our breath away..."

"Steve is the prototypical cool American male. Y'know, I'm talking about Steve McGarrett, alright? Steve Austin, Steve McQueen. Y'know, he's the guy on his horse, the guy alone. He has his own code of honor, his own code of ethics, his own rules of living, man. He never, ever tries to impress the women but he always gets the girl."

Great pictures! My favorite "over there" pics are always the children and the mosques. I think because the children are usually smiling and mosques are so beautiful. As said, keep yourself safe! Oh yeah, and blowing up stuff is still cool.

__________________~~Jamie ~~You give me the most gorgeous sleep That I've ever had And when it's really bad I guess it's not that bad

Have some general questions such as whether or not to get a rail pass or how much money you'll need? Visit here!

First time travelers/travelers with a lot of questions - this forum is for you![b]

Originally posted by beergal1@Sep 27 2005, 02:25 AMwhile some of us may not agree with the purpose of the war lets try not to forget that people like The Monsignor are out there trying to build a better life for the Iraqi people as well as protect their own lives from the insurgents. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures the pictures of the kids were great!

The pictures are all from in and around baghdad, for the most part (the really bleak desert-y ones are actually in Kuwait) I'm stationed in Sadir City (yeah, Injun' territory) and cover a good sized area north of Baghdad.

For the most part, it's like being a sports star or something up here. In most neighborhoods, the people are really nice, wave to us, kids run out to the roadside to wave at us when we drive by.... (I've seen more 'thumbs-up' out here in a few short weeks than I have my entire life.)

There are areas (Sadir City, for example) where they're definitely hot-spots. For the most part, however, the IP's and ING (Iraqi Police and Iraqi National Guard respectively) do the bulk of the work. They're beginning to take charge of their own country, man their own checkpoints, disarm their own bombs, and police up their own turf!

The kids are the big indicator exactly what the mood of the neighborhood is that you're in. I've seen enough myself to say that I honestly believe the problem is really in the minority. (And seen enough to say that a good portion of the problem is from external sources - funding, manipulation, intervention, etc)

I've seen bombs placed in schoolyards, in markets, near mosques, and in public places as well as along military routes. These people aren't "freedom fighters", they're terrorist scum (what military value is gained by bombing a school, for Christ's sake?). They wish to replace an oppressive and brutal secular regime with their own oppressive and brutal theocracy! They don't care how many innocents get killed along their route to their goals, either.

For the most part, these people are similar to many other people in the world. They wish to live their lives... No matter where I go, the kids are simply kids...

I'm quite happy I came here, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we did the right thing here. --

Some of the pictures I couldn't include were things like Uday and Qusay Hussein's palaces on the lake, with the little love getaway, complete with manacles on the wall (for the less willing participants) and the blood on the floor (more than one type, so they had plenty of 'guests' apparently), or the prison, which included an interrogation chamber - of the medieval variety - where political dissention usually got you a free stay... permanently...

Its pretty easy to be misled by the news, simply because they can take an entire country's incidents, and play them out for you in quivering panting color, all in a matter of moments. There's no doubt, there's a war going on here, but we're not seeing an entire country rising up against us like it seems on CNN.

- I'm not here to tell you how to feel about this. Your opinion is your constitutionally protected right! If you don't like this, make sure you get out there and let your representative know (preferably before they "Cry Havoc! and set loose the dogs of war") I'm here to make sure that my daughter doesn't get to experience a remote-controlled artillery shell in her schoolyard... Ever!

Mike - yeah, it's a standard M203 grenade launcher, but it's attached to an M-4 Carbine (same as the M-16, but shorter barrel and it has a collapsable stock, making it easier to maneuver in tight quarters)